Ms McAdoo’s 6th Class pupils were busy planting crocus bulbs recently.
BT Young Scientist Research
Ms McAdoo’s 6th Class pupils had a recent visit from students from Coláiste Choilm. These students were doing research for the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. The 6th Class pupils completed surveys as part of the research.
Maths
Tangrams
Ms McAdoo’s 6th Class pupils had great fun creating and exploring Tangrams in Maths.
2021 – 2022
Science
Living Things – Plants
In Gaeilge Ms McAdoo’s class have been looking at Bláthanna and identifying native plant species. They have also looked into the Irish language names for these plants and how they originated.
Materials – Investigation to Determine Best Insulator for a Take Away Cup
Before enjoying hot chocolate on the Christmas Fun Day, Ms. O’Regan’s 6th Class investigated what material would be the best insulator for a cup of hot chocolate. Firstly, four different materials were wrapped around each styrofoam cup. Materials used included tin foil, cardboard, cling film and felt. One cup was used as a control and did not have a material around it. Next, pupils predicted which material they thought would keep the liquid warmer for longest. After hot water was carefully poured into each cup, a thermometer was used to measure the temperature of the hot liquid at various time intervals. Students recorded the temperatures in a table. Felt was the best insulator, followed closely by cardboard. Interestingly, the water in the cup without an insulator was 6.5 Degrees Celsius lower than the cup with the felt after 15 minutes.
The students later enjoyed their hot chocolate in a biodegradable cup which had cardboard as an insulator.
EPIC Explorers Webinar – Exploring Space
As part of Science Week, Ms. O’Regan’s 6th Class participated in a Science webinar on the topic of Space. This complemented the material that the students were learning in both Science and English. The pupils learned about real-life space milestones and inspiring stories of astronauts, including Irish astronauts. Students engaged with a variety of tasks such as word-search, quizzes and designing a rocket.
Energy and Forces – Exploring Sounds: Musical Instruments
Ms. O’Regan’s 6th Class explored ways of making sounds using materials that they found around the house. The students were tasked with designing and making a home-made instrument. They were encouraged to incorporate a variety of sounds. Each student presented their instrument to their classmates, explaining the materials used and demonstrating how the instrument worked. Some pupils uploaded videos to their class portfolio on Seesaw.
Engineering
Engineers Week – Building Bridges
As part of Engineers Week, Ms O’Regan’s 6th Class worked in groups to design and build a bridge that could hold the most weight before breaking. The teams used spaghetti and masking tape as their building materials. They tested their bridges to see how much weight they could carry before breaking. Each group’s bridge managed to hold a minimum of 1.25kg. The strongest bridge held 2.6 kg before breaking.
Valentine’s Day STEM Building Activity
To mark Valentine’s Day, Ms. O’Regan’s class made paper heart towers. The challenge was to build the tallest structure possible. The students needed to ensure that their structure could stand on its own. Each student was limited to using one sheet of paper, scissors and glue.
Rocket Science! – Designing, Testing and Modifying Paper Rockets
Ms. O’Regan’s 6th Class learned about the design process that most engineers follow: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create and Improve. To put this learning into practice, the students engaged with a ‘Rocket Science’ webinar with Dr. Namoi Lavelle. In this webinar, pupils developed an awareness of how rockets work. They also identified and explored how objects and materials may be moved. Next, the students constructed individual rockets using cardboard and a straw. Finally, they tested and modified the design in order to make the rocket fly further.
Gunpowder Mill Trail
6th Class pupils recently visited and explored the History and operation of Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills. Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills was one of three Royal gunpowder mills that manufactured gunpowder for the British Government. They were first established in Ballincollig in 1794, by Corkman, Charles Henry Leslie.
Maths
Number – Logical Reasoning
The pupils from Ms McAdoo’s 6th Class used logical reasoning to solve puzzles. They used a range of strategies and worked in groups. Some students worked with concrete materials and others drew a matrix to resolve the problems. The students also compared how they solved the problems and self-assessed their methods.
Measures – Length
Ms. O’Regan’s 6th Class were busy measuring various items in the classroom. Firstly, the pupils were required to estimate the length of each item listed. Secondly, the pupils selected an appropriate instrument to measure the items. After the students measured the items, they needed to calculate the difference between their estimate and the actual measurement.
It was great to see students think of very creative ways of measuring. For example, one group measured the length of the sole of their shoe before carefully walking toe to heel from one side of the classroom to the other in order to accurately measure the length of the classroom. The students even estimated and measured Ms. O’Regan’s height!
Measures – Length
Ms McAdoo’s 6th Class pupils enjoyed implementing their learning of ‘Measures – Length’. They can be seen here using steps and a measuring tape to measure the length of the Maths display board, a pupil’s arm, school box and the wet area within their classroom, for example. They also made sure to record the measurements taken. Well done 6th Class!
Shape and Space – Maths Eyes
Pictures are an excellent way for us to notice Maths in our everyday lives. Ms. O’Regan’s 6th class searched for lines and angles at home and in the local area. We spotted parallel lines, perpendicular lines, diagonal lines, obtuse angles, acute angles and reflex angles. Using the pencil tool on Seesaw, we marked some of the lines and angles that we noticed. Some pupils even included a key to clearly convey the various lines and angles.
Shape and Space – Leaning Tower of Pisa
Ms McAdoo’s 6th Class pupils put their learning of making angles into practice, in this Leaning Tower of Pisa activity.
Maths Games
To celebrate Maths Week Ms MCAdoo’s 6th Class explored the ways in which they can use their maths skills through games (cards, dice, chess etc.) It looks like lots of fun!
STEM Show and Tell
Technology – Wedo 2.0
Well done to three 6th Class pupils who have been developing their coding and programming skills using ‘Wedo 2.0.’ The students introduced ‘Milo’ to their peers and provided an excellent presentation about their work. In addition to presenting the information clearly and concisely, the boys also demonstrated some commands that Milo followed. Mr. Leen even put the pupils on the spot by challenging them to develop a new code which commanded Milo to dance. The boys rose to the challenge and were able to undertake this with ease. The audience was very impressed – maith sibh!
Maths – Logical Reasoning
Pupils from Ms McAdoo’s 6th Class used technology in order to display their ‘Logical Reasoning’ puzzles to the senior classes on their corridor. They did an amazing job and explained very clearly how each puzzle came to be. Well done, 6th Class!
Musical Instruments – Show and Tell
Ms. O Regan’s 6th Class pupils kindly recorded videos of their musical instruments in action. Not only did the pupils present their instruments to the Senior Classes, but they also created the videos below for the rest of the school to enjoy. Some pupils also uploaded videos to their class portfolio on Seesaw. The pupils very clearly explained and demonstrated how each unique instrument was created and how they can in turn be used to create sound. All classes were very impressed by the work of the 6th Class pupils. Well done!